María Teresa Murillo

María Teresa Murillo Pulido (15 October 1929 – 26 February 2017) was a Colombian botanist and pteridologist, who was known by many as "the First Lady of Botany in Colombia". An internationally recognised expert in the field, she expanded the herbarium at the National University of Colombia and was the first woman to be accepted into the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences.

Early life and education Murillo was born on 15 October 1929 in Bogotá. Her father was the entomologist Luis María Murillo Quinche; her mother Isabel Pulido Cárdenas. From 1935 to 1944 she studied at the María Auxiliadora School, and from 1945 to 1946 at the National University of Colombia (NUC) where she studied under Armando Dugand.

Career She developed her career at the Institute of Natural Sciences at National University of Colombia from 1950 to 2006. During her time at NUC she expanded the herbarium collection held there, with particular reference to its collection of ferns. She was awarded fellowships by the Guggenheim Foundation in 1964 and 1965.

From 1965 to 1967 she worked with Rolla and Alice Tryon at the United States National Herbarium, at Harvard University.

She died on 26 February 2017.

Awards and recognition

Commemorative plaque in the Botanical Garden of Medellín University Merit Medal - National University of Colombia (1994) Integral Life and Work of a Scientist Award - Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (1995)

Eponyms

Tectaria murilloana A.Rojas (also honors Marcelo Murillo) Trichomanes murilloanum A.Rojas